Chapter 33: Voices in the Sea of Light

The sound of the explosion and the terrifying scream brought the Professor and Dereck crashing through the heavy double doors at maximum speed.

"Young Miss!" Dereck roared, ignoring everything else as he sprinted toward Salma’s battered form in deep concern.

Meanwhile, the Professor sprinted straight toward Summer’s shivering body. But the second his hand brushed against her bare shoulder, he recoiled instantly with a sharp curse.

"Damn it! She’s so fucking hot!" The Professor barked in shock, backing away as the skin on his fingertips literally began to melt and blister from the absurd thermal energy radiating off her skin. "What the hell did you do to her?!"

He shouted at Salma.

"You fucker!" Dereck shouted back, his heavy axe drawn as he glared at the Rogue leader. "How dare you shout at the Young Miss!"

Before Dereck could move any further, Salma forcefully pushed his arm away and dragged herself off the cracked wall. She stumbled past him, her terrified, bloodshot eyes fixed entirely on Summer.

"You stop right there!" The Professor tried to step in her path to shield his boss, but in the very next second, Salma slapped her palm forward, sending the young man flying straight across the hall and splashing headfirst into the aquatic pool.

Salma stumbled toward her daughter, stopping just a few feet away from her shivering, steaming body.

Her hands trembled uncontrollably in the air. This had happened simply because she touched her. Why?

Why was her blood reacting this way to her own child? What kind of curse was this?

"Oh no... no, no... what is happening?" Salma’s words became completely incoherent, her voice breaking into hysterical, weeping gasps. "Why is my daughter in so much pain... why can’t I touch her...?"

"Young Miss... please, calm down," Dereck urged, his heart aching as he tried to stabilize her trembling shoulders.

"Help her!" Salma suddenly grabbed Dereck’s heavy tactical vest, her green eyes wide with absolute desperation as she begged him. "I can’t touch her! Please, Dereck... help my baby!"

This was the second time in his entire life that Dereck had ever seen his fearless, unshakeable young miss beg like a helpless child.

The first time was seventeen years ago, when she fought her own family to keep her newborn baby alive.

Now, history was repeating itself in the most cruel way possible.

Dereck gritted his heavy teeth, a wave of dark, violent anger washing over his soul.

’All because of that wretched man... and his cursed, treacherous bloodline...’

Dereck’s eyes turned icy cold as he glanced down at the shivering, unconscious zombie girl.

Yet, seeing his leader’s heart breaking into pieces right before his eyes, he forced his rage down and stepped forward.

Ignoring the intense, blistering heat radiating off her flesh, Dereck bent down and gathered Summer’s small body firmly into his massive arms.

His own flesh sizzled and melted against her skin, but the fierce loyalty and protective rage burning within his chest burned far hotter than any thermal physical pain.

*

- *

After the blinding agony passed, a strange, profound calmness washed over her mind, followed closely by a surge of overwhelming exhilaration.

Summer opened her eyes to find herself floating peacefully in a vast, weightless sea of brilliant, colorful rays of light.

She no longer felt the burning heat or the excruciating pain that had scorched her flesh earlier.

Instead, a strange mixture of rage and sadness welled up within her small heart.

Why had that human woman hurt her? Summer had genuinely thought they were becoming friends. She wanted to cry out loud, but no tears fell.

Any strong emotion she tried to explode outward simply transformed into shimmering, colorful rays of light that rippled through the endless space.

That was when she noticed those colorful rays of light were actually streaming directly out of her own body.

Looking down, she realized her physical body was not humanoid anymore. Instead, she had transformed into a tiny chick covered in fluffy, colorful little feathers.

[How could your body possibly contain the bloodline of the Ancient Chaos? No... how is it possible for either a human or a zombie body to hold such an ancient, supreme power?]

’System, you are here too?’ Summer felt genuinely happy to know she was not alone in this strange space.

She flapped her tiny wings in complaint. ’Look! I turned into a chicken!’

[Chi... what? Chicken?] The system sounded utterly helpless, its usual elevated persona completely shattered by her ridiculous statement.

’Mmm!’ Summer chirped in frustration.

[You dummy girl! This is not a chicken! This is the form of the Ancient Chaos! Do you even know what that means?]

’No,’ Summer replied blithely, floating in place. ’It looks like a chicken either way.’

[You... Sigh.] The system let out a heavy, tired breath before speaking in a low, reverent tone.

[The Ancient Chaos was the ultimate abomination of every single law and rule in the cosmos. There is no way a being born within this universe could ever be a carrier of such blood. How could a creature born inside the universe possibly control the entity that created the universe in the first place?]

’Bah, bah, bah,’ Summer shook her tiny feathered head, completely unimpressed by the grand explanation. ’It is a chicken anyway.’

"Little girl, if you call me a chicken one more time, I will really cook you into a boiled nugget."

A cold, ancient voice suddenly resonated from all directions, echoing throughout the vast sea of light.

The sudden sound scared the little chick so badly that she let out a sharp, high-pitched scream of surprise.

"That scared me!" Summer used her small, fluffy feather to pat her tiny chest, her heart fluttering rapidly.

Meanwhile, the system went completely silent. It abandoned all its philosophical ramblings, leaving behind only one final, mechanical sentence.

[Do not ever acknowledge my presence right now...]

Its voice sounded utterly flat and devoid of any emotion, which genuinely scared Summer a bit.

It was obvious how deadly serious the system was, and Summer did not dare go against that clear warning, though she was inwardly filled with deep grievance against the system for abandoning her after scaring her.

"Who are you?" Summer asked aloud, her tiny beak opening as her ruby eyes scanned the surrounding rays of light.

"Who am I? Haha!" The voice laughed loudly, the sound vibrating through the endless space. "I am the Ancient Chaos!"

"Hm?" Summer tilted her small chick head, her mind swirling in confusion. "I thought I was that."

"What? How did you know?" The voice sounded genuinely surprised, the cold aura vanishing instantly.

"Oh..." Summer’s voice was laced with a mischievous, playful smile as she fluttered her tiny wings. "So you are faking it!"

Everything went completely silent for a long moment.

Then, a low, warm chuckling echoed from all around. This time, the voice sounded like a friendly, benevolent old man.

"You got me this time, little girl. No wonder... you are truly ’his’ blood after all."

"His?" Summer asked, tilting her head to the other side.

"Someone you have yet to know," the old man’s voice replied gently. "Anyway, you can just call me Grandpa, because I am your grandpa! Well, I know this might be a bit sudden for you, so if you are not comfortable calling me that just yet—"

"Grandpa," Summer called out before the voice could even finish its sentence, her response completely choking off the old man’s words mid-speech.

"Cough! That was far too abrupt!" The voice paused, sounding thoroughly flustered.

In the next second, Summer felt a gentle, affectionate flick land right on the center of her small feathered forehead.

"Why are you accepting family members so quickly?" the old man grumbled playfully. "It is far too easy for bad people to kidnap you if you act like this!"

"Aww..." Summer rubbed her tiny chick head with her wing, her glowing ruby eyes burning with deep dissatisfaction. "Then I am not calling you grandpa anymore."

"Wait, that is not what I meant!" the old man quickly tried to correct himself.

"You are a stinky old man from now on," Summer declared firmly, turning her small feathered back to the sea of light.

"That is really not what I meant at all!"

"Stinky old man... stinky old man... stinky..." Summer chanted repeatedly in a rhythmic tone, completely ignoring his pleas.

"Aaahhh, damn it! You are so naughty... so terribly naughty..." the old man groaned in defeat, his helpless laughter filling the sea of light as Summer continued her chanting.